HONG KONG, May 3, 2026 – Tether Holdings recently released its official reserve report for the first quarter of the year 2026. This document detailed significant additions to the physical gold holdings of the company. Multiple primary news outlets, including the financial news portal Investing.com, published articles on these detailed financial disclosures between May 1 and May 3. According to these reports from Reuters, The Economic Times, and other organizations, the stablecoin issuer purchased approximately six metric tons of gold. This specific buying activity took place during the first three months of the calendar year. This new acquisition directly increased the total volume of gold reserves backing the USDT token of the company. Before this period, at the end of December 2025, Tether held 126 metric tons of gold. Following the new purchases, the total gold reserves backing the USDT token reached equivalent to about 132 metric tons by the end of March 2026.
The quarterly report provided an updated financial valuation for this accumulated precious metal. The total dollar value of these 132 metric tons of physical gold worth about $19.8 billion. This specific valuation was calculated based on the market prices for gold at the end of the first quarter. This physical gold currently accounts for approximately 10 percent of the total reserves held by the company.
The first-quarter reserve report also delivered a detailed breakdown of the other financial assets backing the stablecoin. Currently, the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin known as USDT has a massive total of $189.5 billion in active market circulation. Alongside the $19.8 billion in physical gold, the company disclosed a very large position in United States government debt. Specifically, Tether holds U.S. Treasury Bills valued at $117 billion. Treasury Bills (short-term debt obligations backed by the U.S. government) make up the largest portion of the financial backing for the token. The company reserves also contain cryptocurrency assets. The latest report indicated that the reserves hold approximately $7 billion in bitcoin.
As part of its broader financial operations, Tether also reported detailed data concerning a separate cryptocurrency asset. This asset is the fully gold-backed token known by the ticker symbol XAUT. The gold backing this specific token is kept completely separate from the reserves backing the standard USDT token. According to the reported data, Tether currently holds 22 metric tons of gold specifically designated for the XAUT token. This total includes a recent acquisition. Since the end of December, the company acquired six metric tons of gold dedicated entirely to the XAUT reserves. The XAUT token is a smaller asset compared to USDT. Currently, the XAUT token has $3.3 billion in active circulation.
This steady and ongoing accumulation of precious metals establishes Tether as a major global holder of physical bullion. The company continues to add to its gold reserves across multiple product lines. However, the reports noted a change in the velocity of these purchases. Despite the continued acquisitions throughout the start of the year, the first-quarter purchase pace represented a noticeable slowdown. This is evident when compared to the purchasing activity during the final months of the previous year. During the October to December period in 2025, the company acquired a total of 27 metric tons of gold. The six metric tons purchased in the first quarter of 2026 show a reduction from that previous mark.
Sources
- Investing.com – https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/tether-slows-gold-purchases-to-6-tons-in-first-quarter-93CH-4654280 (Published/Updated: May 01, 2026)
- Reuters – https://www.reuters.com/technology/tether-slows-gold-purchases-usdt-reserves-first-quarter-data-shows-2026-05-01/ (Published/Updated: May 01, 2026)
- The Economic Times – https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/cryptocurrency/tether-slows-gold-purchases-for-usdt-reserves-in-first-quarter-data-shows/articleshow/130712093.cms (Published/Updated: May 02, 2026)
